Subpoenaed Christie staffer resigns

A Chris Christie aide who was subpoenaed in a growing New Jersey traffic scandal resigned Friday, the aide’s lawyer confirmed to POLITICO.

Christina Renna becomes the second person to leave the Republican governor’s office since the scandal escalated in January . But she did not say the scandal, which has threatened Christie’s potential presidential ambitions, was the reason for her departure.

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“This reflects a decision I have been considering since shortly after the election,” Renna said in a statement provided by her attorney, Henry Klingeman of Newark, N.J. Christie was elected to a second term last November.

“I have spent almost four years working hard for a governor I continue to respect and admire. The transition from term one to term two is a natural time to pursue an opportunity in the private sector,” Renna said.

Renna was the governor’s director of intergovernmental affairs, according to her attorney. She left on her own terms and was not fired, her attorney said. She has not been accused of wrongdoing during the probe into the lane closures, their motivation and the extent of the governor’s office’s involvement in them. The governor himself has denied any involvement in any alleged plot.

A spokesman for Christie, Colin Reed, would not comment on Renna’s departure.

Renna’s lawyer would not say whether his client plans to respond to her subpoena from state lawmakers investigating the scandal. The response is due tomorrow. She was one of 18 people who received subpoenas for documents last month, along with Christie’s reelection campaign and his gubernatorial office as a whole.

Her resignation follows the firing of former deputy chief of staff Bridget Kelly, whom Christie dismissed last month after subpoenaed documents appeared to show Kelly helping orchestrate four-day lane closures in a town near the busy George Washington Bridge last September in an alleged political vendetta against the town’s Democratic mayor.

Two Christie appointees to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the agency that runs the bridge, resigned in December amid the growing scandal. They included David Wildstein, who, through a lawyer on Friday, said there is evidence Christie learned about the lane closures earlier than he has said. Christie’s office denied the allegation.

Wildstein communicated with Kelly about “traffic problems in Fort Lee,” according to subpoenaed documents, and is seeking immunity before providing any testimony.

Christie also sidelined a political aide, campaign manager Bill Stepien, from planned roles at the state Republican Party and the Republican Governors Association after Stepien’s name surfaced in subpoenaed documents. Stepien is also among the 18 to receive subpoenas and, through his legal team, objected to the request on Fifth Amendment grounds last week.

Documents that Wildstein provided to state lawmakers under subpoena show that Renna relayed a message to Kelly about the chaos the lane closures were causing Sept. 12, one day before the lanes were reopened.

The phone message Renna alluded to was from the mayor of the gridlocked town, Mark Sokolich of Fort Lee and was originally taken by a person identified as Evan.

“The mayor is extremely upset about the reduction of toll lanes from 3 to 1,” Renna wrote in the email to Kelly, according to a copy of the Wildstein documents released by state lawmakers. “Not only is is [sic] causing a horrendous traffic back up in town, First Responders are having a terrible time maneuvering the traffic because the back up is so severe.

“The mayor told Evan that he has no idea why Port Authority decided to do this, but there is a feeling in town that it is government retribution for something. He simply can’t understand why that would be the case however, because he has always been so supportive of the governor.

“Sokolich explained that the Council wants to organize a press conference with picketers at the foot of the bridge. The Mayor feels he is about to lose control of the situation and that he looks like a ‘f—- idiot.’

“Evan told the fine mayor he was unaware that the toll lanes were closed, but he would see what he could find out.”